News, Reviews, & Opinion

PR: A record-setting quarter for Apple's iPad led to a
better-than-anticipated second quarter for the tablet market, according
to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC)
Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet Tracker. Total worldwide tablet
shipments for the second quarter of 2012 (2Q12) are estimated at 25
million units; up from 18.7 in the first quarter of 2012, representing
a quarter-over-quarter increase of 33.6% and a robust year-over-year
growth rate of 66.2% - up from 15 million units in the second quarter
of 2011. IDC will release final shipment totals for the quarter later
this month.

"Apple built upon its strong March iPad launch and ended the quarter
with its best-ever shipment total for the iPad, outrunning even the
impressive shipment record it set in the fourth quarter of last year,"
says Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices. "The
vast majority of consumers continue to favor the iPad over competitors,
and Apple is seeing increasingly strong interest in the device from
vertical markets - especially education. While iPad shipment totals are
beginning to slow a bit in mature markets where the device saw early
traction, growth in other regions is clearly more than making up the
difference."

Apple shipped 17 million iPads during the quarter, up from 11.8
million units in 1Q12 and well above its previous record of 15.4
million in 4Q11. Apple wasn't the only company to experience solid
growth in the second quarter. Four of the top five worldwide vendors
saw their shipments increase year over year. Samsung experienced
exceptional growth, and landed in second place with 2.4 million units
shipped, up from 1.1 million units a year ago. Amazon rebounded from a
sluggish first quarter to post shipments of 1.2 million units (the
company, which ships its Fire tablet only in the US, entered the market
in 4Q11). ASUS shipped 855,454 units, well above its total of 397,048
units a year ago. Finally, only fifth-placed Acer saw its
year-over-year numbers decline, as it shipped 385,458 units this
quarter, down from 629,222 units a year ago. It's worth noting that
shipments of the well-received Google/ASUS cobranded Nexus 7 aren't
reflected in these totals, as that product officially began shipping
into the channel in the third quarter of 2012.

IDC expects competition in the tablet space to continue to heat up
in the second half of 2012. "In addition to major new products from
Amazon and quite likely Apple, we can also expect an influx of
Microsoft Windows 8 and Windows RT-based tablets starting in late
October," says Bob O'Donnell, program vice president, Clients and
Displays. "If anything, there's a real risk that people will have too
many options from which to choose this holiday season. Consumers
baffled by the differences between Amazon and Google versions of
Android, or Windows 8 and Windows RT, may well default to market leader
Apple. Or they may simply choose to remain on the sideline for another
cycle."

Selection of Apps, Price, and Brand Most Important
Factors in Tablet Purchase

PR: comScore, Inc. has announced the launch of comScore
TabLens, its monthly syndicated service providing insights into US
tablet ownership and usage. Based on a 3-month rolling sample of 6,000
US tablet owners, TabLens provides insight into tablet audiences,
including demographics, content consumption habits, and device
ownership, to provide the industry with the most up-to-date look at
this expanding tablet market.

Today's US Tablet Owner Revealed

"comScore is pleased to announce the availability of TabLens to
bring reliable monthly reporting and metrics around tablet devices and
their owners," says Mark Donovan, comScore SVP of Mobile. "TabLens
delivers the critical market insights needed by publishers,
advertisers, OEMs, and network operators as they attempt to capture
value in one of the fastest-growing and most profitable technology
markets of all time."

Product features include:

Monthly reporting based on a 3-month rolling sample size of 6,000
US tablet owners and supported by comScore's trusted sampling and
survey methodology that has been the foundation of comScore MobiLens
since 2005.

Granular insights into tablet ownership by device and operating
system.

Insights into on-device media consumption including retail, social
media, games, music, video and more to help companies keep a pulse on
consumer trends.

Analogous structure to comScore MobiLens provides seamless
comparison between mobile and tablet audiences and the most
comprehensive view of today's connected consumer.

iOS and Android Tablets Capturing Different Consumer Segments

Demographic analysis of tablet audiences by platform reveals
distinct differences across iPad, Android and Kindle Fire audiences
(Note: For the purpose of this study, Kindle Fire was excluded from the
Android tablet total and analyzed separately). iPad owners skewed male
(52.9 percent), slightly younger (44.5 percent under the age of 35) and
wealthier (46.3 percent residing in households with income of $100k or
greater) compared to an average tablet user during the three-month
average period ending June 2012.

In comparison, Kindle Fire owners saw their audience skew female
with 56.6 percent of its audience base represented by females. Both
Android and Kindle Fire users saw household income below that of iPad
owners, aligning more closely with household income reported by
smartphone owners.

*comScore defines a media tablet as a touchscreen
tablet device with a slate form factor, a 7 inch or greater screen size
and a data connection, but no voice plan. Single purpose ebook reader
devices are excluded from this definition.

**For this analysis, Kindle Fire was excluded from
the Android tablet total.

Apps, Price and Brand Most Important in Purchase Decision, Having
Same OS as Phone Not as Important

In the fast-evolving and highly competitive tablet market,
understanding the factors that are driving consumers purchase decisions
is critical for both providers of operating systems and OEMs. Analysis
of the top purchase consideration factors for an average tablet owner
found that selection of apps and price of tablet led as the most
important factors, both scoring 7.7 on a 10-point scale. Brand name of
tablet and tablet operating system followed as the next most important
factors each with a 7.5-rating, while music/video capabilities ranked
#5 in purchase consideration factors with a rating of 7.4.

A comparative look at the purchase consideration factors for iPad
and Kindle Fire owners found significant differences between what these
consumers deemed important. iPad owners found selection of apps most
important in their purchase decision, scoring an 8.1, closely followed
by brand name of tablet with a rating of 8.0. Meanwhile, Kindle Fire
owners placed the greatest weight on price of tablet (8.1), followed by
selection of apps (7.5). Brand name of tablet and operating system were
both scored as less important among Kindle Fire owners than among iPad
owners.

Somewhat surprisingly, consumers did not place strong importance on
having the same operating system across their tablet and smartphone,
with this factor falling outside of the top five consideration factors
for iPad, Kindle Fire and the average tablet owner. This finding
highlights the potential for brands, such as Microsoft with its
recently announced Surface Tablet, to see consumer adoption in the
tablet market even though they might lack strong penetration in the
smartphone market.

Top Purchase Consideration Factors for Tablet*, iPad,
Android OS, and Kindle Fire Purchasers on a 10-Point Scale
3 month average ending June 2012
Total US Tablet Owners, Age 13+, US
Source: comScore TabLens

Total Tablet

iPad

Android** Tablet

Kindle Fire

Selection of apps available for my tablet

7.7

8.1

7.3

7.5

Price of the tablet

7.7

7.2

7.9

8.1

Brand name of the tablet

7.5

8.0

7.0

7.4

Tablet operating system

7.5

7.8

7.4

7.2

Music and video capabilities

7.4

7.6

7.1

7.4

Recommended by friends/family

6.5

6.7

6.1

6.5

Tablet has same OS as my phone

6.4

6.6

6.3

6.1

Social networking features

6.2

6.3

6.0

6.3

Recommended by retail salesperson

5.3

5.3

5.3

5.2

* comScore defines a media tablet as a touchscreen
tablet device with a slate form factor, a 7 inch or greater screen size
and a data connection, but no voice plan. Single purpose ebook reader
devices are excluded from this definition.

** For this analysis, Kindle Fire was excluded from
the Android tablet total.

Tablet Satisfaction High Across the Board, Highest Among iPad
Owners

Device satisfaction is an important measure in understanding
sentiment post-purchase, especially with consumers having a growing
number of tablet options available to them. New TabLens data showed
that tablet owners were highly satisfied with their respective devices,
with the average overall satisfaction rating reaching 8.6 on a 10-point
scale. In comparison, smartphone owners rated overall satisfaction with
their device an 8.1. iPad owners experienced the highest level of
satisfaction (8.8 rating), followed closely by Kindle Fire owners
(8.7). Android tablet users (excluding Kindle Fire) had a slightly
lower satisfaction rating of 8.2, but which was still very strong in
absolute terms.

* comScore defines a media tablet as a touchscreen
tablet device with a slate form factor, a 7 inch or greater screen size
and a data connection, but no voice plan. Single purpose ebook reader
devices are excluded from this definition.

** For this analysis, Kindle Fire was excluded from
the Android tablet total.

comScore TabLens: Today's US Tablet Owner Revealed

Tablets are drastically altering the digital landscape, influencing
a vast array of consumer activities from shopping, to watching TV,
consuming news and more. The rise of the tablet consumer has left
almost no industry untouched. The launch of comScore TabLens provides
an in-depth, monthly view into US tablet ownership and usage.

PR: Consumers prefer Android and Apple iOS, currently the top
two operating systems in the mobile industry. Both are well
established, staying current with the consumer's needs and wants with
respect to features, services, and applications offered, and providing
quality and popular applications- an aspect consumers look for when
purchasing a new device. In the recent Strategy Analytics Wireless
Device Lab report, "Ecosystem Determines Consumer Attachment to Mobile
Operating Systems," consumers evaluated the four leading smartphone
operating systems: Android, Apple iOS, BlackBerry OS and Windows
Phone.

The size of the associated content and app ecosystem, and the
perceived quality of the content within it, are key factors in
determining how consumers perceive different mobile operating systems
and how strongly attached they are to their OS of choice

Consumers that prefer an easy to use and intuitive operating system
like a closed platform, similar to Apple iOS, finding the need to
customize their devices relatively low. However, consumers who like the
ability to customize their device, don't mind a bit of complexity, and
prefer having the choice of numerous applications, find an open market
operating system, such as Android, more appealing. BlackBerry OS was
seen as secure and reliable from a business perspective, but viewed as
less consumer friendly, and as having outdated hardware. Despite having
a well-known brand in the computer industry, consumers were uncertain
of Windows Phone as a mobile operating system.

"The size of the associated content and app ecosystem, and the
perceived quality of the content within it are key factors in
determining how consumers perceive different mobile operating systems
and how strongly attached they are to their OS of choice," comments
Taryn Tulay, Analyst in the Strategy Analytics Wireless Device Lab
(WDL), and the report's author. "Consumers find value in features and
applications that are convenient, useful and used on a daily
basis."

"Most consumers are hesitant to switch operating systems with the
fear of having to learn a new, unfamiliar operating system as well as
the potential for loss of any data or content currently saved or
downloaded to their device," says Paul Brown, a Director in Strategy
Analytics User Experience Practice (UEP). "As such, it is imperative
for operating systems to offer an easy transition from one to another
to obtain new users."

Publisher's note: Based on our site logs, iOS and Android are the
only mobile platforms responsible for at least 1% of our traffic.
BlackBerry comes in third at 0.14%, Windows Phone at 0.06%, Symbian at
0.03%, and Nokia at 0.02%. (Samsung's OS doesn't even round up to
0.01%.) Calling BlackBerry and Windows Phone "leading" mobile operating
systems is a bit misleading - iOS and Android have such a huge lead
over the rest that it's only kindness (or a desire to make it seem like
a four-way race) that puts them in the "leading" category dk

Why iPad Magazines Are a Flop

The Mac Observer's David Winograd focuses on an excellent point -
the failure of magazines to gain real traction on the iPad.

The problem, as he sees it, is that magazine fans like him (and your
editor) really don't like throwing away magazines and tend to keep
favorite ones around for years for reference, but iPad magazines tend
to be too doggoned big to hang onto in any substantial number,
especially if they include "interactive" content and/or are optimized
for the iPad 3's Retina display, with (for example) an issue of Wired
weighing in at well over 1 GB, and most issues at least half that, even
a 64 GB iPad will be soon enough overwhelmed.

The Cloud? Not a satisfactory solution due to long download times
and lack of access where there's no WiFi or data service. One of the
appealing aspects of traditional print magazines is their no-hassle
portability and instant access.

Editor's note: I still subscribe to several ink-on-paper magazines,
and although some offer free iPad version access with the print
subscription, I've never bothered downloading even one. I really don't
like reading for leisure on an electronic screen, especially a backlit
one, much preferring the tactile satisfaction and easy-on-the-eyes
quality of hard copy.

If e-mags were available as simple and relatively svelte PDF files
without the "because we can" interactivity hoo-ha, they might be able
to carve out a viable niche, but I'm not in the slightest surprised
that the category is not doing well. cm

The Competition

How Microsoft Surface Stacks Up Against the
Competition

How do the specs for the upcoming Microsoft Surface for Windows RT
and Surface for Windows Pro compare with the Apple iPad? PCWorld's
Melissa J. Perenson shares what she knows, observing that Surface will
change your expectations of what you can do with your tablet; first and
foremost that you will no longer be limited to a dedicated mobile OS
and its corresponding app ecosystem but be able to buy one app and use
it on both the Surface tablet and a Windows 8 laptop or desktop
PC.

Perenson notes that the Surface tablets' design is unique, featuring
a comfortably angled bezel created with ergonomics in mind; a balanced
arrangement of internal components that make the device feel lighter;
and a built-in kickstand for conveniently using Surface in a variety of
scenarios.

Table reduced from PCWorld article.

But it will be in productivity where the Surface will really stand
out, because unlike Apple's iOS and Google's Android, Microsoft's
Windows 8 provides the ability to view two apps at a time on one
screen, as well as having additional apps multitasking in the
background - flexibility closer to what users are accustomed to having
on a desktop or laptop computer. Plus, Surface RT will include Office
Home and Student 2013 RT (with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote)
productivity applications.

Surface Pro will also come with 64 GB or 128 GB of storage and an
Intel Core i5 CPU for real PC power in a tablet computer.

Publisher's note: Just a few important details are missing from this
table. Microsoft has not announced processor speed, screen resolution
and pixel density, battery life, resolution of its front and rear
cameras, or its price, making it difficult to make a meaningful
comparison regarding value. dk

HP and Dell to Launch Windows RT Tablets in Late
October

DigiTimes' Monica Chen and Joseph Tsai report that Hewlett-Packard
(HP) and Dell are both gearing up to launch Windows RT-based tablet PCs
after Microsoft releases its new OS on October 26. Chen and Tsai say HP
will adopt chip solutions from Texas Instruments (TI), while Dell will
use chips from Qualcomm, both predictions according to unnamed sources
in the upstream supply chain.

They add that Asustek Computer and Toshiba have already unveiled
their Windows RT tablet PC designs, with the former to adopt Nvidia's
SOC and the latter one from TI, with both vendors planning to release
their Windows RT machines in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Chen and
Tsai say Dell's Windows RT tablet PC is outsourced to Compal
Electronics for manufacturing, and Acer doesn't intend to release a
Windows RT tablet PC in 2012.

Microsoft Dumps 'Metro' Name from Windows 8

The Register's Gavin Clarke reports that Microsoft has dropped
"Metro", the name given to the touchscreen-centric interface for
Windows 8 and Windows Phone, claiming it was just a code name all
along. However, Clark suggests that litigation may be the real reason
for dumping the Metro nomenclature, since it seems the word may be
owned by a European company or individual that objected to its use, and
reports that Microsoft employees have been instructed to immediately
stop using Metro on Windows 8 and other Microsoft products

Google Nexus 7 Teardown Reveals More Hits Than
Misses

Tech Republic's Bill Detwiler cracks open the Nexus 7, examines its
hardware, and explains why Google's tablet has an edge on Amazon's
Kindle Fire, and how its a whole lot easier to get inside to repair or
replace stuff (like the battery) than Apple's iPad.

Detwiler notes that Asus and Google left out a few features in order
to keep the Nexus 7's price low - no rear camera, no HDMI output, no
cellular support, and no external memory card slot. However he says he
really liked how easy it was to open the Nexus 7, and once inside he
found a lot to like - for instance the battery isn't soldered to the
motherboard and is easily removed.

Macworld UK: Google Nexus 7 Cheap but Not
Terrible

"Does Google's £159 ($199) Android tablet device pose any real
threat to the iPad?" asks Macworld UK's Mark Hattersley, noting that
the Nexus 7 is "cheap, cheap, cheap" yet "not terrible," which he
thinks bodes well for the rumored 7.85" iPad Mini. On the downside, he
rates the Nexus 7 as not as good as the iPad - or even the iPhone - and
likely not the forthcoming iPad Mini. But if you don't already own one
of those, it's a good, small, cheap alternative - "a well-built device,
with competent internal components, fast enough to run the Android
operating system smoothly, . . . a good responsive
multi-touch display," and that doesn't cut that many corners with build
quality at half the price of the cheapest iPad. He also cautions that
typing on the Nexus 7 is "pretty nasty" and that Android lacks a lot of
apps that really matter.

Accessories

Stump Stand for E-readers, iPads, iPhones, and
Tablets

PR: GOGO Ind.
has announced that their Stump iPad Stand is now available throughout
Europe at Apple.com The Stump Stand was launched at Macworld
in January and is available in the United States at StumpStore.com,
Amazon.com, Fry's Electronics, and West Elm.

The Stump Stand is a 3-in-1 stand that provides multiple viewing
positions for your iPad, tablet or e-reader - Ramp, Lean and
Upright. The Stump is designed to be an adaptable stand for your tablet
- giving you ideal viewing positions for whatever you are doing,
still small enough to be portable and weighted for stability to
ensure your iPad or other device remains secure whatever the viewing
position. The rubber-like
material cradles your iPad and grips the surface it stands on to
prevent slips.

Features in a nutshell:

Small, yet tough and sturdy

Holds your tablet in three different positions

Works with most tablets and Ereaders

Weighted for stability

Made of rubber-like material

Available in various colors

Not only is the Stump
compatible with iPads, but also other tablets up to 0.5" in thickness.
It is also ideal for iPhones and various other smartphones, and
acts as an extra set of hands with your e-reader, holding your
Kindle or Nook for a comfortable reading experience. Essentially, if
your device is 0.5" thick or less (at entry point), the Stump will work
for you.

The Stump's minimalist design makes it an ideal home base for all of
your portable electronic devices. Whether your device is actively storing, charging,
synching, or simply waiting for its next use, the Stump offers a stable
home and a clean presentation. It is highly portable and low profile,
so you can keep multiple Stumps throughout your living environment: at
your desk, on the kitchen counter, on your nightstand, in your car -
practically anywhere.

PR: Speck
Products, maker of form-fit cases for the latest personal electronic
devices, has been awarded US patent #8,204,561. The patent describes
the innovative method by which Speck's CandyShell design for iPhone
cases combines soft and hard shell elements into one form-fit
design.

The CandyShell was inspired by a gap in the smartphone case market
that no soft or hard case alone could offer both protection and style.
Refining the design and the process to manufacture the world's first
all-in-one hybrid case took over a year. It debuted at CES 2009 and
went on to win numerous design and consumer choice awards.

Speck's patented
CandyShell design is now available for iPhone, iPod, iPad and many
models of Android smartphones. There are also several thoughtful
variations like CandyShell Flip, which flips back for docking,
CandyShell Card with an integrated slot for holding credit cards, and
CandyShell Grip, with grippy pads for gaming comfort.

"Getting this intellectual property recognition is especially
rewarding as an affirmation of the type of work we do here at Speck,"
says Speck CEO Irene Baran. "It's our goal to build unique and useful
cases that no one else has thought of, and to give protective,
functional designs a smart and stylish spin. We're gadget fanatics too,
and we want the same reliability and style for our iPhones that our
customers want."

Speck CandyShell cases are available at Apple Stores worldwide, as
well as at AT&T stores and online.